Thisbe stared at him. She’d been in a prison cell with a queen. And not just any queen—the queen of the land of the dragons. Thisbe’s own land. And the woman had been the commander of the military! “Wow,” she breathed. “Queen, commander of the military . . .” She shook her head in awe and then said jokingly, “Is that it?”

Rohan eyed her carefully as if considering his words. “Thisbe, she’s also your grandmother.”

Astonishing Revelations

Rohan,” Thisbe said, sitting forward. Her eyes were wild. “What? How? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” said Rohan. “She told me herself. Maiven is your grandmother.”

“How does she know that?” Thisbe sat back, bewildered and shocked.

“She figured it out. After the dragons were forced out of the land by the usurpers, her daughter was taken away by pirates to your world. I gave her all the details about your vision of the girl being taken away and someone shouting for Maiven Taveer. She was struck by the description—she said that was a true scene from her life. The person shouting was her assistant. Maiven was with the army, too far away to reach the pirate ship in time. She watched helplessly as it went barreling into the roiling sea, heading for your part of the world with her daughter in chains.”

“That’s incredible,” Thisbe whispered. “So that was my mother. I . . . I’ve wondered.”

“Yes. Maiven immediately organized her ships to go after her. The fleet was setting out when the meteors struck our world and caused the earthquake. Some of the ships capsized and were lost. With her people in peril, Maiven called the rest of the ships back. A day later the ground split and the sea fell into the gorge between the worlds. The dragons that hadn’t already been driven off fled. In the chaos, the rogue group of bandits, one of which was Shanti’s father, took over the castle and ousted Maiven and the rest of her family. The queen was imprisoned in the dungeon and left there, forgotten.”

Thisbe was silent for a long time. “But surely there were other girls who were kidnapped or driven away. How does Maiven know for certain that the daughter she lost was my mother?”

“She said you wouldn’t have had that vision if you weren’t a direct descendant of the girl being taken away.”

“So since the assistant was screaming for Maiven because her daughter was being taken . . . and because I had the vision, that means I’m a descendant of the girl. . . .” Thisbe closed her eyes and focused on the scene, which now stayed forever on the edges of her mind. “That makes me the granddaughter of a queen.”

“Yes.”

“My grandmother,” Thisbe said, repeating herself, “is a queen.”

“Yes,” said Rohan again.

Thisbe leaned forward and pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes in disbelief. “My mother is dead.”